AOL on Friday said farewell to its once ubiquitous Instant Messenger service, which gained popularity in the late 1990s and boasted 36 million active users at its peak in 2001.

Say goodbye to buddy lists, chat windows and away messages.

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"We know there are so many loyal fans who have used AIM for decades; and we loved working and building the first chat app of its kind since 1997," AOL said in a blog post earlier this month. "We’re more excited than ever to focus on building the next generation of iconic brands and life-changing products."

The web portal made the announcement in October via Twitter. "All good things must come to an end," it said.

"If you were a '90s kid, chances are there was a point in time when AOL Instant Messenger was a huge part of your life," Michael Albers, VP of Communications Product at AOL parent company Oath, said in a statement. "You likely remember the CD, your first screenname, your carefully curated away messages, and how you organized your buddy lists."

AIM's mascot, a yellow figure dubbed "Running Man," became a beloved online logo to children and teens who grew up in the 1990s. In 2011, AOL retired the mascot as part of a re-branding strategy, but brought it back in 2013.

AOL launched an AIM app for mobile devices in 2008, though it was accessible on devices using third-party applications in 2002.

The software's popularity dropped in the late 2000s as social media networks like Twitter, Facebook and Instagram became mainstream. Google Chat and SMS text messaging also contributed to its decline.